Organisers confident in Folk Festival success

A growing army of Facebook followers and international on-line ticket sales mean organisers are confident the 2015 Stonehaven Folk Festival will rival the success of previous years.

And a Montrose woman will receive a complimentary pair of concert tickets to mark her being the 500th person to ‘like’ the festival on its Facebook page.

With acts this year as diverse as the ‘challenging’ Treacherous Orchestra and musical weaver Norman Kennedy, the festival organisers have always prided themselves in presenting the cutting edge of folk music as well as honouring its traditional roots. Now, they are benefiting from a similar range of platforms on which to promote the event.

Festival Chairman Charlie West said it had been hugely satisfying to see an almost daily increase in the number of people seeking out information about the festival through its Facebook page.

“When you see the numbers increasing, you do get the feeling that the excitement is mounting,” he said.

“We were delighted when Lesley Strachan of Montrose took us to the 500 mark. I got in contact with her and she said she had always been interested in the event but had never actually been to the festival.

“So we decided to give her a couple of tickets, to make sure she comes along this year. She’ll have a great time.”

While concert tickets can be purchased in person at Celtic Chords in Stonehaven, by telephone and by post, it is the on-line service that is showing the international appeal of Stonehaven’s annual event.

Things are looking good – weekend tickets have already sold out and we have steady sales across the board.” said Mr West.